This is the news that artist Andrew Vickers, having discovered a large number of discarded comic books in a skip, proceeded to transform them into a large papier mache sculpture of a superhero.

Comic book expert Steve Eyre’s heart almost stopped when he glimpsed an original Avengers #1, a comic worth at least £10,000, forming part of the statue, now drenched in glue and making up part of a leg.

The artist’s comments that he finds the whole situation hilarious, having created a £500 dollar sculpture out of perhaps £50,000 worth of comic books, may leave comic book aficionados seething.

Mr Vickers’ response is simply: ‘there is no point crying over spilt milk’. That’s a lot of spilt milk to keep a stiff upper lip over.